Their committal hearing was postponed until tomorrow after a
request by Diaz's and Vo's state-provided lawyers who wanted more
time to assess the prosecution's evidence.

Tran has separate private legal representation.

If the committal procedure determines that the trio should go to
trial, translation difficulties and a backlog of cases in Hong
Kong's High Court might mean the case won't be heard for another
year.

The three were arrested in April when Hong Kong's narcotics
squad raided a budget hotel room in the tourist district of Tsim
Tsa Tsui, where Diaz and Vo had been staying.

Police allege that the raid netted one kilogram of heroin with a
street value of some $A1 million stuffed into 114 condoms and glove
fingers each five centimetres in length.

Prosecutors have alleged that Diaz and Vo had been offered $A200
for each packet swallowed and they had agreed to act as drugs mules
- or couriers - to smuggle the heroin into Australia inside their
stomachs.